'Impeccable' 7th Grader Teddy Totten of Christ the King is Flagler County Spelling Bee Champion

Kyle and Andrea Totten with their son Teddy after he won the Flagler County Spelling Bee at the Buddy Taylor-Wadsworth cafeteria Wednesday evening. (© FlaglerLive)

Teddy Totten won his school-wide spelling bee when he was in 3rd grade, but he wasn’t allowed to compete at the county level: the rules limit competitors to students in 5th through 8th. Bummer. He waited. He made it as a 5th grader, and was runner-up, falling to affluent.” The following year he stumbled in his classroom round and didn’t make it to the county show.

He made it back Wednesday, representing Christ the King Lutheran School. And this time, summiting the word “astringent,” he won.

On the way he’d conquering words like spritzed, gargoyles, respiratory, impeccable, sorbet and appraisal. He’d done it with only slight anxiety (one of the words conquered) even when he had to spell “coroner.”

“In the words of Vince Lombardi, It doesn’t matter how many times you get knocked down, it matters how many times you get back up,” he said in words transcribed by email by his mother, who just happens to be Andrea Totten, more publicly known as Flagler County Judge Andrea Totten.

She was not among the judges at the Buddy-Worth Cafeteria, where the competition was held (nor was Kyle Totten, Teddy’s father, in the audience with other family members). That task went Teaching and Learning Specialists Jesika Butler, Scott Reynolds and Kristin Frank. There were no reported objections from the bench.

Eighteen students from nine schools, including one charter–Imagine–and one private–Christ the King–had qualified, 16 had made it on stage, in front of parents, family and friends, and Superintendent LaShakia Moore. School Board member Lauren Ramirez had shaken hands with each contestant beforehand. Celeste Ackerman, a teaching and learning specialist and the supervisor of the district’s media centers, emceed. Christopher Stefancik, who’d worked for Flagler schools for many years until 2024, volunteered as pronouncer.

The practice round was easy: you wouldn’t want to trip up a student right out of the dictionary: “spot,” “mushy,” “please,” “juice,” “velvet,” and so on. Still, students fell on the words “noisy” and “twinkle.” But it didn’t matter.

Then it got serious, with “hopscotch” cruelly claiming the very first speller. Just like that, they were down to 15, though they then went on a 21-word streak without a stumble: naughty, gothic, ointment (a terribly slippery word in any setting), flailed, ogres, amnesia and teriyaki, all well handled.

The second round was less kind, claiming three spellers with haberdasher–a word no one who hasn’t read Dreiser or Malamud can spell, or should have to spell–crescendo and straightforward. The last 11 almost sailed through the third round despite “muttonchop.” A speller started “tsunami” with the letter s and immediately caught himself before spelling it correctly. But it was too late. Plea bargains were not part of the deal. He bowed out.

It wasn’t until the fifth round that two more spellers fell, with “amiably” that was anything but and “placards.” Other unforgiving words included “ligament,” “accolade” and “anthropology.”

So it came down to Teddy, Bunnell Elementary’s Victoria Rivera, and David Pastukh, an 8th grader and schoolmate of Teddy’s. Pastukh fell on “auburn,” that word that can’t decide what color it is and shouldn’t force middle school students to. Then it was a duel: Victoria got “bureau.” Teddy got “arbitrary.” She devoured “fajitas” to his “consternation.” But she fell victim to “assailant.” Teddy’s parents would understand perfectly (his father is in law enforcement).

When Teddy in the 12th round took care of “tabulate,” everyone applauded. He waved them down. “Quiet,” he said. “Championship.” He was right. He had to spell two words in a row, including the championship word. He put his hands back in his pocket, where they’d been for much of the competition (Lutherans are apparently more indulgent on that account: in Catholic schools, hands in pockets are a mortal sin).

He stepped back up to the mic. And there it was: astringent, that word 97 percent of the educators (or anyone else) in the audience would know to define. Teddy spelled it methodically, smiled, and did a small fist-bump.

“Teddy spent very little time studying the list of practice words provided by the spelling bee,” Andrea Totten said. “The key to his success is his love for reading. At a parent teacher conference in 3rd grade, Teddy’s teacher told us, ‘He’s already reading at a 12th grade level, so I don’t know what to tell you except to keep him reading.'”

He recently completed the Lord of the Rings series (not a minor feat: it clocks in around 1,200 pages, with words like “vehemence,” “venerable,” and “hoary ash-trees”). Barely 13, he enjoys fantasy adventure books and nonfiction history books, especially about Ancient Rome–and the Percy Jackson series. His parents are both avid readers, Kyle even ore so than Andrea.

“Kyle and I encourage him to read, and Kyle in particular suggests books for him to read. But we didn’t push him to prepare for the competition. It was his to win or not. Not mine,” the judge said. Teddy excels in school and loves the Gators (the family was headed to Miami for a tournament Christ the King is in). “We are very proud of his academic achievements, but we are most proud of his kindness and empathy, his great sense of humor, and his positive attitude,” his parents said.

Victoria Rivera is the first runner-up. Teddy will represent Flagler County at the 81st Annual First Coast Regional Spelling Bee on March 7 in Jacksonville.